- Source: Tetramorium
Tetramorium is a genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae that includes more than 520 species. These ants are also known as pavement ants.
Taxonomy and phylogeny
Tetramorium was first described by Gustav Mayr in 1855 in the same publication as Monomorium.
Revision within the genus by Wagner et al. in 2017 recognized a complex of 10 cryptic species, 3 of which were raised from subspecies classifications and 2 of which were newly described. This revision also elevated the pavement ant introduced to North America as the species T. immigrans rather than the previous designation as a subspecies of T. caespitum. These 10 species in the T. caespitum complex are as follows:
Tetramorium alpestre Steiner, Schlick-Steiner & Seifert, 2010
Tetramorium breviscapus Wagner et al., 2017
Tetramorium caespitum (Linnaeus, 1758)
Tetramorium caucasicum Wagner et al., 2017
Tetramorium fusciclava Consani & Zangheri, 1952
Tetramorium hungaricum Röszler, 1935
Tetramorium immigrans Santschi, 1927
Tetramorium impurum (Foerster, 1850)
Tetramorium indocile Santschi, 1927
Tetramorium staerckei Kratochvíl, 1944
Description
Workers of most species have a ridged clypeus, an appendaged stinger, mandibles with 3 or 4 teeth, and antennae with 11 or 12 segments or with 3-segmented clubs on the tips. The genus is divided into several species groups defined by various characters.
Distribution
Most species are distributed throughout the Afrotropical and Indomalayan realms. Ten species have been recorded from Japan. One species of pavement ant, T. immigrans, is native to Europe and was probably introduced to North America starting in the 18th century.
Biology
Most known species nest in the soil, in decaying wood, or in leaf litter. Some live in trees or in termite nests.
Species
Gallery
References
External links
Japanese Ant Image Database: Genus Tetramorium
AntWeb: Pictures of some Tetramorium species
Further reading
Garcia, F. H. and B. L. Fisher. (2012). The ant genus Tetramorium Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Malagasy region—taxonomy of the T. bessonii, T. bonibony, T. dysalum, T. marginatum, T. tsingy, and T. weitzeckeri species groups. Zootaxa 3365.
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Myrmicinae
- Tetramorium
- Tetramorium atratulum
- Tetramorium immigrans
- List of ants of Great Britain
- Tetramorium caespitum
- Tetramorium inquilinum
- Tetramorium insolens
- Tetramorium yerburyi
- Tetramorium plumosum
- Tetramorium mayri
